Cargo container

ABSTRACT

Cargo containers including a rigid pallet and a flexible covering detachably connected to the pallet for enclosing cargo carried by the pallet; the covering closely conforming to the contours of the cargo.

[151 3,659,641 51 May 2,1972

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS CARGO CONTAINER Frank J. Marino,8802 Foster Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. 11236 72] Inventor:

3,088,619 5/1963 Boucher...............................l50/52X 22 d: Oct3 1969 Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves 1 1e Assistant Examiner.lohn P.Shannon, Jr.

Attorney-Philip G. Hilbert [21] App]. No.:

ABSTRACT Cargo containers including a rigid pallet and a flexible coverepallet for enclosing cargo car- 3 closely conforming to the conmu 3 dVeo ac m mt or k .l '3 b0. Me mm y @b d .w .llfl 22 MM 05 m mu Mu 5 5 MW5 m "mm m l W d Std U.IF 1]] 2 8 555 [[l tours of the cargo.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patented May 2, 1972 FIG.4

Frank J. Marina AT Tb RNEY CARGO CONTAINER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONWith the progressive increase in the movement of cargo by air transport;and more particularly, the movement of relatively small items inpackages, cartons, and the like, a need has been apparent for means forassembling and arranging such items in unitary form to facilitatehandling, load and unloading the same.

Known cargo containers are of the fixed volume type which must have anarbitrary capacity and either completely or partially must have utilizedat any given loading. Further, such containers are cumbersome andrequire substantial storage space when not in use.

Since known container constructions necessarily include frame portionsand a covering thereover; such constructions require substantial amountsof material and labor which leads to relatively high costs for the same.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide an improved cargocontainer which includes a base pallet and a flexible coveringdetachably secured thereto; the covering being adapted to closelyconform to the contours of cargo disposed on the base pallet.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cargo container of thecharacter described, wherein the flexible covering may be folded flatagainst the pallet; or separated from the pallet and rolled up tofacilitate storage of the same when the container is not in use.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cargo con tainer ofthe character described, wherein the flexible covering thereof isprovided with strap members arranged to facilitate loading operationsand conforming the covering to the contours of the total cargo carriedby the pallet.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in parthereinafter pointed out.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cargocontainer embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial front elevational view showing a detail of thewebbing-panel relationship;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view showing corner details of the frontand end panels.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawings,designates a cargo container embodying the invention. The same comprisesa rigid base or pallet member 11, which may be formed of plywood, moldedplastic, metal or the like; and a flexible covering generally indicatedat 12, which is detachably secured to the peripheral edges of palletmember 1 1.

The pallet member 1 1 is of rectangular shape and the covering 12 hasbottom edges corresponding to the peripheral out line of said member 11.The covering 12 is formed of a moisture and wear resistant material suchas nylon fabric or the like.

The covering 12 provides an enclosure for the various packages, cartonsor other goods arranged on the top surface of pallet member 11. Suchcovering is formed of panels of fabric including a front panel 13, aback panel 14, end panels 15, a top panel 16 and sloping panels 17 whichconnect the top edges A of end panels 15 to the side edges 16A of toppanel 16.

The front panel 13 is vertically split as at 18 to provide laterallyrelated subpanels 19. The adjacent edges of top panel 16 and frontsubpanels 19 are interconnected as at 20, while the adjacent edges oftop panel 16 and back panel 14 are interconnected as at 21. The adjacentedges of sloping panels 17 and front subpanels 19 are interconnected asat 22 while the adjacent edges of sloping panels 17 and back panel 14are interconnected as at 23.

The vertical edge 24 of end panels 15 are unsecured to the adjacentvertical edges 25 of front panels 19 while the adjacent vertical edgesof end panels 15 and back panel 14 are interconnected as at 26. It willbe apparent that with this arrangement that front subpanels 19 may bemanipulated as flaps to expose the interior of covering 12, when loadingor unloading pallet member 1 1.

Means is provided for constricting the several panels forming covering12 to conform the same to the outer contours of the goods carried onpallet member 11 up to the full volume of said covering. To this end,there are provided intersecting sets of strap means mounted on the outersurface portions of panels l317. Such strap means may be formed ofwebbing of suitable width and may be of nylon fabric or the like.

Thus, the front subpanels 19 have mounted thereon a set of parallel,horizontally extending straps generally indicated at 27 and a set ofparallel, vertically extending straps generally indicated at 28. The setof horizontal straps 27 comprise longitudinally aligned pairs of strapsections 27A, 27B on the respective front subpanels 19. Buckle meansgenerally indicated at 30 serve to detachably interconnect the adjacentends of strap sections 27A, 27B at the juncture of front subpanels 19where vertical marginal edge portions 31, 32 respectively thereof,overlap each other.

The strap sections 27A, 27B are held in pockets on front subpanels 19 byhorizontally disposed strips of material 33 which are secured alongtheir marginal portions 34 to the outer surface of panels 19; the strips33 preferably being of nylon or other thermoplastic fabric, to allow forparallel heat seals as at 35 to secure said strips in place. Thuslongitudinal pockets 36 are formed to carry strap sections 27A, 27B.

The vertical sets of straps 28 are made up of aligned strap sections28A, 28B detachably interconnected by buckles generally indicated at 37.The strap sections 28A, 28B are adapted to interengage strap sections27A, 27B at their intersection. To this end, the pocket forming strips33 are slotted transversely thereof at spaced intervals as at 38. Thus,in threading strap sections 27A, 278 through pockets 36, spaced portionsthereof 27C may be brought outwardly of strip 33 by way of a pair ofadjacent slots 38. In this way, strap sections 28A, 28B may be passedbeneath strap sections 27C, to thereby retain the same on panels 19.

The lower ends of strap sections 28A terminate in clasps 40 adapted toengage hooks 41 mounted on peripheral edge portions of the pallet member11.

The end panels 15 are similarly provided with strips 33 to form'horizontally extending pockets 36 for straps 27D which extend to edges24 and terminate in a clasp 42 for engagement by hook means 43 on theterminal ends of strap sections 27B at edges 25 of front subpanels 19; avertical marginal flap 44 on subpanels l9 overlying the joint betweenpanel edges 24, 25. Vertical strap sections 28C, 28D extend across endpanels 15, top panel 16 and sloping panels 17, intersect straps 27D onpanels 15, as well as straps 2715 and 27F on panels l7, 16 respectively.

Strap sections 28C and 28D are interengaged by buckle means generallyindicated at 45; the strap sections 28C terminating at their lower freeends in clasps 40 for engagement with hooks 41 on peripheral portions ofpallet member 11, as previously described. The vertical strap sectionsare similarly provided with clasps 40 on the other panels for detachableengagement with hooks 41 on the corresponding edges of pallet member 11.

The pocket forming strips 33 for straps 27D-27F are transversely slottedas previously described, to allow portions of said straps to interengagewith intersecting strap portions as previously described.

In using the container 10, the covering 12 is held in distended,suspended relation to pallet member 1 1, by suitable suspension framemeans, not shown. The lower peripheral portions of the several panelsare connected to the pallet member 11 by way of clasps 40 and hooks 41.The front subpanels 19 are then adapted to be opened, wholly or in part,as

indicated in dot-dash lines, in FIG. 1, to gain access to the interiorof the container for loading or unloading the same.

After loading the container with the various individual cargo items, thepanels of the container are conformed to the outer contours of the cargoload, by constricting the same by means of the various straps and strapsections through their respective buckles. Thus, the container maypresent a volume and contour corresponding to the bulk and contour ofits contents.

Alternatively, the covering 12 may have all of its panels interconnectedat their adjacent edges; the front panel 13 being in single, undividedform. In this case, the cargo items would be preloaded directly onpallet member 11 and the unitary covering 12 would be dropped over thepreloaded items from suitable suspension means; the covering then beingsecured to the pallet member 11 by way of claps 40 and hooks 41.

When container 10 is not in use; the covering 12 may be folded flat intocontact with the upper surface of pallet member 1 l; or such coveringmay be separated from the pallet member and rolled up for storage. Thus,container 10 requires a minimum amount of storage space when not in use;yet is readily and quickly available for use with a minimum amount ofmanipulation.

I claim:

1. A cargo container comprising a rigid base member for carrying goodsof varying bulk and outer contours and cover means of flexible, moistureresistant material, said cover means comprising top, front, back and endpanels, means for detachably securing bottom edges portions of saidfront, back and end panels to said base member, means for conformingsaid panels to the bulk and outer contours of the goods carried on saidrigid member and retaining the conformed condition thereof, saidconforming means comprising first and second sets of strap means, meanson said panels for locating one of said sets of strap means in mountedrelation to said panels, the strap means of said one set of strap meansbeing in spaced relation to each other, the other of said sets of strapmeans being arranged in crossing relation to said one set of strapmeans, the strap means of the other of said sets of strap means beinginterengaged with the strap means of said one set of strap means atspaced points along the length thereof, and means for adjusting theeffective length of the strap means in each of said first and secondsets of strap means.

2. A container as in claim 1 wherein one of said sets of strap meansextend vertically of said front, back and end panels, the other of saidsets of strap means extending horizontally of said panels.

3. A container as in claim 2 wherein said front panel comprises a pairof laterally adjacent subpanels, the horizontally extending strap meanson said front panel comprising longitudinally aligned strap sections onthe respective subpanels, and means for detachably connecting theadjacent ends of each pair of longitudinally aligned strap sections.

4. A container as in claim 3 wherein the abutting vertical edges of thefront and end panels are separable, and means for detachably connectingeach of the horizontal strap means on said end panels with acorresponding horizontal strap means on said front panel at the adjacentends thereof.

5. A container as in claim 1 wherein said strap locating means compriseselongated strips of material having a width greater then that of saidstrap mean, said strips of material being secured along the marginaledges thereof to outer surface portions of said panels to formlongitudinally extending pockets for said strap means, said strips ofmaterial being slotted transversely thereof at longitudinally spacedintervals therein to allow longitudinally spaced portions of said strapmeans to be threaded through pairs of adjacent slots to dispose thestrap portions between each pair of slots exteriorly of said strip topermit interengagement thereof with portions of the strap means of theother set of strap means.

6. A container as in claim 5 wherein said cover means and said strips ofmaterial are formed of thermoplastic fabric, said strips being heatsealed :0 said pan els

1. A cargo container comprising a rigid base member for carrying goodsof varying bulk and outer contours and cover means of flexible, moistureresistant material, said cover means comprising top, front, back and endpanels, means for detachably securing bottom edges portions of saidfront, back and end panels to said base member, means for conformingsaid panels to the bulk and outer contours of the goods carried on saidrigid member and retaining the conformed condition thereof, saidconforming means comprising first and second sets of strap means, meanson said panels for locating one of said sets of strap means in mountedrelation to said panels, the strap means of said one set of strap meansbeing in spaced relation to each other, the other of said sets of strapmeans being arranged in crossing relation to said one set of strapmeans, the strap means of the other of said sets of strap means beinginterengaged with the strap means of said one set of strap means atspaced points along the length thereof, and means for adjusting theeffective length of the strap means in each of said first and secondsets of strap means.
 2. A container as in claim 1 wherein one of saidsets of strap means extend vertically of said front, back and endpanels, the other of said sets of strap means extending horizontally ofsaid panels.
 3. A container as in claim 2 wherein said front panelcomprises a pair of laterally adjacent subpanels, the horizontallyextending strap means on said front panel comprising longitudinallyaligned strap sections on the respective subpanels, and means fordetachably connecting the adjacent ends of each pair of longitudinallyaligned strap sections.
 4. A container as in claim 3 wherein theabutting vertical edges of the front and end panels are separable, andmeans for detachably connecting each of the horizontal strap means onsaid end panels with a corresponding horizontal strap means on saidfront panel at the adjacent ends thereof.
 5. A container as in claim 1wherein said strap locating means comprises elongated strips of materialhaving a width greater then that of said strap mean, said strips ofmaterial being secured along the marginal edges thereof to outer surfaceportions of said panels to form longitudinally extending pockets forsaid strap means, said strips of material being slotted transverselythereof at longitudinally spaced intervals therein to allowlongitudinally spaced portions of said strap means to be threadedthrough pairs of adjacent slots to dispose the strap portions betweeneach pair of slots exteriorly of said strip to permit interengagementthereof with portions of the strap means of the other set of strapmeans.
 6. A container as in claim 5 wherein said cover means and saidstrips of material are formed of thermoplastic fabric, said strips beingheat sealed to said panels.